《TAIPEI TIMES》 B5G first step in establishing local satellite industry

SPACE RACE: While Taiwan seeks to launch its first low Earth orbit satellite in 2025, China plans to launch a large network to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink business

By Wu Po-hsuan / Staff reporter

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The Industrial Technology Research Institute （ITRI） aims to lead Taiwanese manufacturers in forming a well-rounded link in the satellite ground station supply chain, it said.

According to a report of South China Morning Post published on Friday, China plans to launch project "GW" , which aims to launch nearly 13000 satellites, to build a large satellite network in low Earth orbit to provide Internet to users around the world.

The project, according to a team led by associate professor Xu Can with the People’s Liberation Army’s Space Engineering University in Beijing, might deploy satellites quickly to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink, which has more than 3,000 satellites in orbit and is expected to grow to more than 40,000 satellites, it reported, .

In Taipei, the National Science and Technology Council on Saturday said that the B5G project was on track to launch Taiwan’s first low Earth orbit communications satellite as soon as the middle of 2025.

The ITRI is responsible for technologies related to building ground stations to communicate with the B5G satellites.

In the early stage of Taiwan’s satellite supply chain, satellite TV and navigation equipment were a main focus, said Kao Jung-yang （高榮揚）, head of the video processing and telecommunication group at ITRI’s Information and Communications Research Laboratories.

The research and development of low Earth orbit communications satellites is an opportunity for Taiwan to join related supply chains, he said.

The production value of the global space industry in 2021 was US$386 billion, of which ground equipment accounted for 51 percent, he said, citing information from the Satellite Industry Association.

The ITRI is to develop advanced technologies related to satellite ground stations including technologies to transmit and receive baseband signals and phased-array technologies, Kao said.

It has completed equipment for ground stations, which is ready to be tested by domestic and foreign manufacturers, he said.

Taiwanese industries can join the supply chain for ground stations as the commercial technologies of low Earth orbit communications satellites only need four to five years to develop, said Evin Liao （廖榮皇）, who works at the ITRI’s Industry Service Center.

The ITRI can help manufacturers in semiconductors, information and communication, precision machining and optoelectronics improve technologies and match them with buyers through the international supply chain, he said.

For example, the ITRI led businesses to the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition in the US in March last year and helped match nine manufacturers with customers, he said.

It also provides low-interest loans and promotes cooperation between industries and research institutes in the hopes of nurturing higher value-added industries, he added.

Separately, the South China Morning Post reported that China plans to launch a project codenamed “GW” to build a large satellite network in low Earth orbit to provide Internet access to users around the world.

The project, the launch date of which is not yet known, might deploy satellites quickly to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink, which has more than 3,000 satellites in orbit and is expected to grow to more than 40,000 satellites, it reported.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES